Are You Confusing Fast With Efficient?

Photo by Djim Loic on Unsplash

Look, I’m all about efficiency.

But sometimes, in pursuit of efficiency, you lose sight of the larger picture. 

You confuse efficiency with speed, you lose sight of what matters and you end up spending more time in the long term.

And not to put too fine a point on it but here are a couple of very high-profile examples of exactly this that have been in the news recently where, in pursuit of “efficiency”, not only was great harm caused, but the repercussions of moving too fast are decidedly making things LESS efficient:

1. We all know by now that the current administration pardoned all of the January 6th insurrectionists, even those who had violent criminal records.  Now, of course, I don’t think he should have pardoned them at all.  But, why did they pardon everyone, including those with violent histories? They thought it would simply be too arduous, too time-consuming, to check the records.  All in the name of efficiency. 

2. When the current administration also decided to fire countless government employees, the decision criteria they used was to fire all those in a temporary status.  This was an efficiency measure.  Unfortunately, they got it wrong. Very wrong, because many of those let go were in a temporary status because they had just been promoted.  As a result, the government now lacks many of its best, and most experienced, employees.  (Although, that may have been exactly the point. But I digress.)

But this administration isn’t the only place where efficiency gone wrong rears its ugly head.

Have you ever been trying to find an “efficient solution” to a rather small task or problem, only to find that the time it took you to research an efficient solution took more time than it would have taken to simply complete the task manually?

Yep? (I’ve been there, too.)

Here are a few more examples of this phenomenon that might resonate with your experience:

• Firing off a quick reply to an email… that causes three more emails to clarify
  A rushed answer often invites follow-up. A thoughtful one can stop the thread in its tracks.

• Speed-reading instructions and then wasting time doing it wrong
  “I got this.” (Uh, no I don’t. This one’s bitten me more times than I’d like to admit.)

• Plowing through a project without first planning
  Starting fast feels productive…until you realize you’re 6 hours in and totally off course. This is why I think planning is often the MOST important work. Yes it takes time, but it saves you so much MORE time.

• Knocking out a task quickly… and not taking a moment to document or track it
  Later you’re asking yourself “Wait, did I send that?” and spending valuable time retracing your steps.

• Multi-tasking
  It feels fast, but it’s slowing you down. The recovery time between context switches makes it slower overall. Plus, you’re more likely to make mistakes you’ll have to fix later. Studies show that attempting to multi-task actually tanks productivity by about 40%.

• Doing it yourself because “it’s faster than delegating it to someone else”
  This may very well be true if it’s a one-time thing. But if this task or project will come up again, it would have been more efficient in the long run to train someone else. vs. doing it yourself for eternity.

Here’s the thing:

Fast is not the same as efficient.

So, the next time you’re aiming for efficiency, ask yourself what you might be missing, and where you might actually need to slow down in the name of efficiency.